Chicken Little (film)
Chicken Little is a 2005 American 3D computer-animated science fiction comedy film, produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and loosely based on the original fable of the same name. The 46th Disney animated feature film, it was directed by Mark Dindal from a screenplay by Steve Bencich, Ron J. Friedman, and Ron Anderson, based on a story by Mark Kennedy and Dindal. The film is dedicated to Joe Grant, who died before the film's release. The film was animated in-house at Walt Disney Feature Animation's main headquarters in Burbank, California and released by Walt Disney Pictures on November 4, 2005 in Disney Digital 3-D (the first film to be released in this format), along with the standard 2-D version. It is Disney's first fully computer-animated feature film as Pixar's films were distributed, but not produced by Disney, and Dinosaur (2000) was a combination of live-action and computer animation. Chicken Little was Disney's second adaptation of the fable after a propaganda cartoon made during World War II. The film is also the last Disney animated film made before John Lasseter was named chief creative officer of Disney Animation and the last Disney film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation before the studio was renamed Walt Disney Animation Studios. Chicken Little grossed $314 million worldwide. Plot In the small town of Oakey Oaks, Chicken Little rings the school bell and warns everyone to run for their lives. This sends the whole town into a frenzied panic. Eventually, the Head of the Fire Department calms down enough to ask him what is going on and Chicken Little explains that a piece of the sky shaped like a stop sign had fallen on his head when he was sitting under the big oak tree in the town square; however, he is unable to find the piece. His recently widowed father Buck Cluck assumes the "piece of sky" was simply an acorn that had fallen off the tree and had hit him on the head, making Chicken Little the laughingstock of the town. A year later, Chicken Little has become infamous in the town for being "crazy" and is constantly being bullied by Foxy Loxy, Goosey Loosey, and other children. His only friends are outcasts like himself: Abby Mallard (who has a crush on him), Runt of the Litter (who is extremely large), and Fish Out of Water (who wears a helmet full of tap water). Trying to help, Abby encourages Chicken Little to talk to his father, but he really only wants to make him proud of him. As a result, Chicken Little joins his school's baseball team in an attempt to recover his reputation and his father's pride, but is made last until the 9th inning of the last game. Chicken Little is reluctantly called to bat by the coach (even though the coach is certain Chicken Little will lose the game for them). He is able to hit the ball and make it past first, second, and third bases, but is met at home plate by the outfielders. He tries sliding onto home plate, but is touched by the ball. While it is presumed that he lost the game, the umpire brushes away the dust to reveal Chicken Little's foot barely touching home plate, thus declaring him safe and the game won. While Foxy is defeated and humiliated, Chicken Little is hailed as a hero for winning the pennant, finally winning his father's pride. Later that night, back at home, he is hit on the head by the same "piece of the sky" — only to find out that it is actually a device which blends into the background (which would thereby explain why Chicken Little was unable to find it last time). He calls his best friends over to help figure out what it is. When Fish pushes a button on the back of the hexagon, it flies into the sky, taking Fish with it. It turns out to be part of the camouflage of an invisible UFO. After chasing Fish, Chicken Little manages to ring the bell to warn everyone, but the aliens see the crowd coming and escape, leaving behind an orange alien child named Kirby. No one believes the story of the alien invasion and Chicken Little is disbelieved by his father and ridiculed yet again – until the next day. He and his best friends discover the orange alien and a few minutes later, a whole fleet of alien ships descend on the town and start what appears to be an invasion. However, it turns out to be a misunderstanding as the two aliens are looking for their lost child and attack only out of concern. As the aliens rampage throughout Oakey Oaks, vaporizing everything in their path, Chicken Little realizes he has to return the alien to his parents to save the planet. However, he first must confront his father and regain his trust. In the invasion, Buck, now regaining his pride and trust in his son, defends Chicken Little from the aliens until they get vaporized. It is then discovered that the aliens were not vaporizing people; the ray guns teleported them aboard the UFO. Afterwards, the aliens reconcile with Chicken Little and Buck and return everything to normal (except Foxy, whose brain got scrambled, turning her into a Southern belle and as a result, Runt falls for her) and everyone is grateful for Chicken Little's efforts to save the town. Cast * Zach Braff as Ace "Chicken Little" Cluck, a young, diminutive rooster who suffers under the reputation for being crazy since he caused a panic saying the sky was falling. * Joan Cusack as Abigail "Abby" Mallard, a female duck (implied swan) with buckteeth. She takes a generally optimistic approach to life. Unfortunately, she is often teased by Foxy for her appearance. She is Chicken Little's best friend and by the end, his girlfriend. * Steve Zahn as Runt of the Litter, a large pig with a huge heart who is much larger than the other children, but is far smaller than his other massive family members. Runt is easily frightened, anxious, and prone to panic. * Dan Molina as Fish Out of Water, a goldfish with a scuba helmet filled with water who lives on the surface. He makes gurgling sounds, cannot speak properly, and acts out what he feels. He is not very shy around others and will perform brave stunts without fear. * Garry Marshall as Buck "Ace" Cluck, Chicken Little's widowed father and a former high school baseball star. * Amy Sedaris as Foxy Loxy, a mean, young fox who is a baseball star and the "hometown hero", serving as Chicken Little's arch-nemesis. She is also a tomboy and one of the "popular kids" at school. In the original fable as well as the 1943 short film, Foxy is a male fox. * Mark Walton as Goosey Loosey, a dim-witted, young goose and Foxy Loxy's henchwoman and best friend. Though mostly associated with Foxy, Goosey will take orders from anyone. * Don Knotts as Turkey Lurkey, the mayor of Oakey Oaks, who is friendly and sensible, but not very bright. * Sean Elmore, Matthew Michael Joston, and Evan Dunn as Kirby, an energetic and hyperactive alien child. * Fred Willard as Melvin, Kirby's father and Tina's husband. * Catherine O'Hara as Tina, Kirby's mother and Melvin's wife. * Mark Dindal as Morkubine Porcupine, one of the cool kids. Dindal also provides the voice of Coach in the film. * Patrick Stewart as Mr. Woolensworth, the class' sheep language teacher. * Wallace Shawn as Principal Fetchit, the school's principal. * Patrick Warburton as Alien Cop * Adam West as Ace - Hollywood Chicken Little * Harry Shearer as Dog Announcer, the baseball announcer at Chicken Little's school and a news reporter for Oakey Oaks.